Mai's the Exception
by FLASOK
Summary: ...I could feel my throat stinging with anticipation of the imminent slice that was coming. The one reason I actually decided to come to this thing for was officially irritated with me. MAIKO ONE-SHOT R


**A/N- Hola readers! I'm back with another one-shot. I'd like to apologize for my lack of detail in my latest story, so I'm making up for it. That is the last time I write three chapters in one go. X____X But you all know I'm capable of writing a good story, so (hopefully) you haven't abandoned me. **

**This one-shot is just something sweet I came up with while watching the Avatar Popup Special. The little bubble said, "Prince Zuko doesn't like parties." I laughed and then was all like, "Hmm…this would make a good story." And so, this is my quest to regain my writing honor. LOL Zuko much? **

**R&R Please! I love hearing from you guys! Hope you like my ****VERY FIRST MAIKO!**** 8DD**

Mai's the Exception

**Zuko's POV**

I sat in a chair in a far corner of the room away from all society and watched the party before me with a bored and slightly irritated expression. I hated parties and I didn't fit in very well with the crowd, heck, I never fit in with the crowd. Sure I was Fire Lord now, but my social skills hadn't exactly improved drastically with the job like one would expect because of all the social duties I perform. I wasn't even dressed up for the event; in fact, I wasn't even dressed in my Fire Lord robes and my hair was down instead of pulled into the formal topknot.

People were staring at me; they probably couldn't believe their Fire Lord was sulking in a corner, dressed in a tea-serving robe with his hair hanging down in his face. I would've put on some Fire Nation robes if I hadn't decided to come at the last minute, but instead, I'd come right from the Jasmine Dragon. It was a crazy and stupid whim I had acted on; I still don't know why I decided to come. Oh, wait. It was because of that persuasive airbender who convinced me that if I came, maybe Mai would agree too and that it was good for my public image. How did he put it? It showed that I really cared about the people? Something like that. Truth be told, I did care about the people (that's why I was Fire Lord wasn't it?), and Aang knew that, but both of us also knew that I didn't like to show it in the form of attending public outings. So now I was stuck here, and there wasn't any trace of Mai.

"Hey, Zuko! What are you doing just sitting here by yourself?" a familiar voice asked from above me. I looked up to see it was Sokka's girlfriend Suki. Sokka wasn't by her side like I thought he would be, I mean, wasn't he always with her?

"Where's Sokka?" I asked, ignoring her question, searching for his tall, lanky form, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not even by the snack table! Suki just shrugged.

"I think he said something about getting a drink. Are you going to answer my question now?" she asked, crossing her arms with a smirk. Or maybe it was a smug smile. Ugh, I need to work on my people skills.

"I don't do parties." I answered dully. Suki gave me the once over and nodded making me feel a little self-conscious about my appearance.

"Well, that's obvious. Did you come right from the tea shop or something?" Curse her for reading me so easily! Was I that transparent? I nodded, a bit humiliated, in response. Thankfully, Sokka came to my save (or so I thought) at that moment with a cup of some kind of drink in hand, one of his big, goofy smiles plastered on his face. He approached my little corner, slung an arm casually around Suki's shoulder regarding me with a nod, and stared at my tea robe with a glint in his eye that told me he was thinking of some sort of ego-damaging nonsense to hurl at me.

"Hey, Zuko. Hiding under the Antisocial Rock as usual?" he teased. Grr, that meat-loving pain-in-the-neck drives me crazy sometimes. Annoyance bubbled up my throat and words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Get out of here!" I almost yelled. He just grinned annoyingly at me adding to my frustration with him. I scowled at him. It was times like this I hated being the Fire Lord because I wouldn't have to be at this party and enduring Sokka if I wasn't.

"As you wish, Your Highness." he mocked, but walked back to the party with Suki and mercifully, AWAY from me. Once he was out of sight, I groaned and massaged the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself from my outburst at him, but another voice called my name from above much to my annoyance. What did I have to do to just get some alone-time here?

"Zuko…" it began, but I interrupted with a furious outburst fueled with annoyance at Sokka and the party.

"WHAT?!" I yelled. This time it was a yell, but I immediately regretted that when I saw Mai standing in front of me. Oh Fire Flakes, I was dead now. That woman has knives and I could feel my throat stinging with anticipation of the imminent slice that was coming. The one reason I actually decided to come to this thing for was officially irritated with me.

"I thought you'd be happier to see me, Zuko." she said looking down at me with her arms crossed. I gaped in horror at what I'd just done and tried to look apologetic and not pathetic at the same time. Though, by the look on her face, I was failing at it miserably.

"M-Mai! I thought you weren't coming tonight!" I spluttered, my mind reeling with numerous apologies. Mai rolled her eyes at me. She's so pretty when she does that…

"Why? Because I can't express myself and have fun?" she asked harshly. How do I answer that? That's exactly why I thought she wouldn't come! She was getting better at being happy and enjoying herself though.

"Well…uh…yes and no." I answered truthfully, pulling at my collar that suddenly felt tight, beginning to fear for my well-being. She glared down at me, her arms still crossed over her party dress which was unsurprisingly red and black. There were a few minutes of silence between us.

"Move over." she finally said, her face softening into a bored expression. I blinked and stayed where I was, surprised I wasn't in trouble. I wasn't really expecting her to throw knives at me, but not even an argument? Actually, that was probably a good thing, but still!

"Well?" she said, breaking me from my state of shock. I moved over and she sat with me on the couch with a sigh.

"You're not mad?" I managed to ask. Mai raised an eyebrow at me as if I should've known the answer which of course, I didn't.

"Why would I be mad? You're right. I probably wouldn't have come if you didn't because I can't have fun or express myself." she replied with a shrug. I scooted closer to her and put my hand over hers with a smile hoping to cheer her up a little bit from her depressing mood.

"You're getting better." I assured her. She smiled her rare, but beautiful smile and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. Then she snuggled up against me, leaning her head on my arm, watching the party going on around us. Maybe I'd never like parties, but if I got to do this every time I came to one, it might be worth it in the future.

**A/N- How adorable! I love Maiko, and I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did writing it. Review please!**


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